U.S. Intelligence to Track Poachers

Wildlife trafficking treated as security threat

For the first time, the U.S. intelligence community will direct its resources toward tracking poachers in an effort to halt the illegal trade in rhino horns and elephant tusks. The Obama administration has stressed the importance of stemming the burgeoning illicit trade in wildlife products, but this is the first time it has addressed the trade as a security threat. "It is one thing to be worried about the traditional poachers who come in and kill and take a few animals, a few tusks, a few horns, or other animal parts," Hillary Clinton said at the State Department on Thursday. "It's something else when you've got helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic weapons, which pose a threat to human life as well as wildlife."